


Deux Mains Gauches

by Spaghetti4U



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Self-Esteem Issues, This is Surprisingly Angsty, Yosuke's POV, and it works, but don't worry it's not a dangerous curse, luck, so i guess, souji is being very patient, souji is subtly trying to flirt, souji's house is not safe at all, yosuke goes through maybe 3 gay panics, yosuke is cursed, yosuke is kind of overthinking everything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:42:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23235661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spaghetti4U/pseuds/Spaghetti4U
Summary: Being graced with the knowledge that other worlds existed gives Yosuke some hindsight on his own situation, and helps him realize that he might be cursed. Unfortunately for him, his bad luck decides to strike on a day he should have enjoyed.
Relationships: Hanamura Yosuke/Narukami Yu, Hanamura Yosuke/Persona 4 Protagonist, Hanamura Yosuke/Seta Souji
Comments: 8
Kudos: 106





	Deux Mains Gauches

**Author's Note:**

> Hello it's me again! 
> 
> I came back with another Souyo fic, this one might be a bit more OOC I think, but mostly because Yosuke is particulary freaking out because he believes he's cursed, so he is constantly on edge. And, well, we all do dumb things when we are freaking out. I'm sorry for putting him through all of this tension.
> 
> I have like, two others fics coming for them lol.
> 
> "Avoir deux mains gauches" literally means "having two left hands" in French, which means being really clumsy, apparently it's an expression also used in Netherland and Hungary? 
> 
> Anyways, enjoy!
> 
> Edit: Corrected some typo

If there was one thing Yosuke Hanamura was proud of, it was his never faltering logic and lucidity, his ability to have a rational judgement on any given situation through simple agnostic reasoning which had never proved him wrong as much as he was concerned.

As far as he could remember, he had always been someone who only believed in what was an established coherent certainty. 

Thus, he had never been afraid of ghosts, of curses, of superstitions, nor had he ever believed in anything remotely supernatural. It wasn't that he was a science man either, but he would follow its affirmation nonetheless, without questioning them twice, that was how thing should be after all.

Sure, he went praying by the shrine once in a while, mostly because of his parents, and, yes, telling spooky stories late at night with friends was entertaining, even when the childlike part of his mind wouldn't allow him to sleep after hearing one, providing him with unsettling pictures of googly eyes watching him from afar in the dark, and long creepy hands trying to catch him if he just happened to let the thing in that closet know he was breathing. As much as he’d never admitted being subjected and frightened by those chasing thoughts to anyone, he still had always recognized those visions as nothing more than what they were supposed to be: fantasies of a sleep-deprived and stimulated mind.

Being graced with a rational mind, as well as a shitty competitive personality, even had offered him more benefits than he could have imagined at first. It was true that none of the girls he had purposefully scared with dumb creepypastas found online (as well as a little _Yosuke-touch_ to season it) had yet jumped into his arms for comfort, but, at least, the cautious glances of Chie, who was _"absolutely not scared, duh!"_ were enough to make up for the few good kicks he would get whenever he told something spooky they absolutely didn't want to hear. 

The most interesting thing, although, was probably that he was, in fact, far less naive than people would have expected him to be. He knew he was still prone to be disrespected, after all, someone just had to come up with a mid-tearful, mid-ridiculous apology for him to comply to their wish, mostly because those people were friends, so, of course he would help, even if he would realize all too well that they were lying for their own benefits. Hence he always did what he was asked, with a forced smile on his face, no matter how inconvenient it was for him. Naturally, people began to think he was dull, but Yosuke knew better than that ; still, he would help them all the same, because that was what was expected of him, his only way to get a grasp of sympathy from his ever so distant entourage.

  
  


Things changed, however, six months after he had moved to Inaba. 

Inaba was, by far, the worst place he had ever been to, let alone lived in. There was nothing to do, the average age of its people was probably around 56 years old, it was always raining or snowing, and on top of all, everyone there hated him since day one for no justified reason (and he hated them all the same in return) save from maybe three people.

By that time, his old pals had already stopped giving news, and as much as the sentimental part of his mind had wished to believe they were just busy, his rational mind had known that they just didn't care as much as they had pretended to. 

Well, to be honest, that had just been another shitty aspect of his life in this horribly boring town, pilled up with all of the others, one he couldn't had began to mourn about then, unless he had wanted every bit of self-satisfaction he had crafted over these few months to scramble on themselves.

And then a weirdo in a bowl cut came into his life, out of the blue, almost screaming into his ears: "Hey I am about to shake things up a bit Yosuke, so you better be prepared!"

It had started with a stupid thing Chie had brought up, something about watching TV at midnight to see your soulmate. They had all agree to try it that night, and if Yosuke had been realistic, and knew nothing would show up, he had been a bit glad to be included in this with them, he couldn't tell for sure, but he had had the feeling that he might get along well with the new transfer student, and maybe, finally, he would find a friend, even better, one from the city too. They would have things in common, right? He had promised himself that he wouldn't mess his only escape ticket from hell up, and this dumb rumor would help him out a bit.

Surprisingly, or rather terrifyingly, something had shown up that night on TV. If, somewhere maybe, a really peculiar part of his mind had been a bit grateful that his supposedly soulmate was a cute girl (woman?) that seemed weirdly familiar, everything else had just been downright wrong. He could probably have caught more of the figure on the screen if he had been less stunned by the fact that there _had been_ a figure on the screen ; he had been sure his TV was off, and the timing had been by far too perfect, and pinching himself three times in a row had proven to be a useless way to wake up from a dream that, after all impossible things considered, was definitely not one. So he had gathered all of his will power to not succumb into the panic attack that was confidently making its way towards his lungs, and had started to think like he could do best: rationally. 

Probably, someone must had pulled up a prank on him. He was _hated_ there, surely someone would have enjoyed the thought of him losing his mind in the middle a school night for nothing, it had been possible, but, to be realistic, way to complicated to pull up for messing with someone his worth. So, not a prank. But maybe some kind of mistake from the TV station? Still, his TV had been off… And it had been all too convenient that somehow his TV had decided, precisely at 12am, to turn itself on because, why not, and to show a face of a random person for few agonizing seconds before shutting off. 

No matter how much he had tried, he couldn't come up with a rational answer for what had just happened, so much that he had finally convinced himself that it had been a prank all along, and that Chie was some kind of mad mastermind who had set all of this up to get revenge on something wrong he had probably said or done once, no matter how ridiculous he knew he was being. 

  
  


He had barely slept that night, haunted by picture of the face on the TV, and silhouettes of Chie and shadows laughing behind his back. 

Little to say that, the next day, he had felt like shit. Like the _“people are making fun of me when I am not looking”_ kind of shit. Once classes had been over, he had walked over to the new kid, determined to know a bit more about what had happened. In the end, it had been Chie (oh god he was wary of her then) who had brought up the subject, since he had, yet again, chickened out, but how was he supposed to casually approach the guy and tell him that he had seen someone in the TV last night? It was unbelievable, he would surely think that he was lying, or trying to mess with him and he didn't want any of that! 

Except he wouldn't have, since he had claimed having seen the same thing. Weird, Yosuke had thought, maybe he was bound to be a laughing stocks too? But before he could speak up, every sympathy he had for the guy had scrambled with the one sentence he had said. And as if things had not already been messed up, they somehow ended up in the Junes Electronic department, half there to prove to the transfer student that, no dude, you can’t jump into TVs, please man, why would you even say that. But apparently, life was full of surprises, and some people just so happened to be able to unlock a path to a new world. So his sympathy for the guy, as well as at least hundreds of other emotions regarding their situation, with only a quarter of them positive, had came back, and stronger than before.

That was when both his emotional mind and rational mind started to go down the dangerous path of no turning back. Somehow, they had ended up inside the TV, and there were monsters, and magic, and Personas, and a talking bear and a creepy room and that fog, and he probably had died somehow, except he had not, and it was as amazing as it was utterly terrifying. It didn’t help that the guy, Souji, was cool, like, the coolest person he had surely ever seen, even in fiction, and he hadn’t seemed fazed by anything at all. He had summoned his Persona like it was a joke, as if he had done that a thousands of times already (apparently he had not, but Yosuke still believed otherwise because-- _damn_ ), while he had been sitting on his butt, breathless, taking in as many details as he could, only to remember none of them after the shock. So okay, maybe superpowers, and curses, and demons, weird things like that were real after all.

However, it was only once his doppelganger had started talking to him, spitting out everything he had been bottling up during his life in front him and Souji that his rational mind had completely shut down. 

Still, even now, despite everything they had been through he would try to be as sensible as possible, after all, if he didn't, who would? Their team needed someone to knock some sense into it when they went all-out.

Plus, some things were just wrong, like ghosts, nu-huh, these were just scary, so he convinced himself that they'd better don’t exist, but admittedly, he was now aware that the world was not working as he had always expected it to be. And that, in fact, changed quite some things. 

  
  
  


For instance, that was how Yosuke realized that he had been cursed his whole life. 

  
  
  


He used to think he was just clumsy, randomly encountering trashcans or poles, tripping over the air, dropping his weapons at the worst possible time or talking too much, too often, only to say unnecessary things eighty percent of the time… Sometimes, sure, he had tried to excuse it by saying he had a terrible luck, but ultimately, he hadn’t believed that, because, luck couldn’t exist, it wasn’t real, it was only a concept invented by humans to justify things and probabilities that seemed way too complicated. 

Or so it was until Souji handed him over knives that were supposed to increase his luck, according to the old man Daidara. At first, he had thought that it was only a marketing technique based on rumors and legends, which was fairly common in business, but it had worked. It worked. He wouldn’t say he had kept them for long, since Souji had the habit of regularly changing their equipment and weapons, but it had helped him tons while it lasted. He had messed up way less, almost never dropped his knives anymore during battles, and more often than not, hit the shadows in their weak spots without especially meaning to. He had been sharper, more decisive, more confident than ever before, and he could proudly declare that he had been a real asset for the team for that period of time. It was a shame that it hadn’t worked in real life for some reason he couldn't pinpoint yet, but he still had been happy to be more useful, and screw up less while it lasted on the other side. Of course, Souji had noticed his enthusiasm, and also probably the fact that he was more effective when luckier, so the next part of equipment he got from him had been a cool-looking ring that increased his luck too. One that quickly became his treasure.

Thus, Yosuke realized that he had probably been cursed somehow somewhere, because it was not normal to be as unlucky as he was. Maybe his clumsiness was increased by his lack of luck, or maybe it was the opposite, but now he could be sure that some days were going to be terrible just because his forsaken luck had decided to screw him over.

And today was one of those days. 

How could he know that, one would ask? Well, yesterday, Souji had invited him to stay over for the weekend, a long one moreover, since they exceptionally didn't have school that Saturday morning, he had been thrilled at the idea of sleeping in two days in a row, and being the goddamn excited puppy for attention that he was, of course he had eagerly accepted the offer. His partner was a busy man, a really busy man, the one type of person who was always doing something productive, and could probably pass out from taking a break, so much that Yosuke was almost sure that “sleeping” and “breathing” were listed in his schedule. So being invited over (without him suggesting!) was an honor few could pretend have received (maybe no one else in fact, which was all the more electrifying), and had proven to be the apogee of his luck so far. After all, Yosuke loved his partner a lot, not “love” _love_ him, because that was gay, and Yosuke was not, but “love” like in “I would die for you without thinking twice and I already have endangered my life for you more than once already because I believe you are the only one who could carry our investigation through the end and you are more important to me than anyone else on this planet ” kind of love, which was a hundredths times better and, well, expected partner-stuff. 

  
  


So when, the next morning, he had woken up late for school because Teddie had robbed the batteries of his alarm to power a talking bear plush that he had bought at Junes with _his_ savings, he knew that the Universe had just played a big prank on him once more, allowing him to take his sweet time to be the Prince of Disappointments in front of Souji, most likely the one and only person he actively wanted to impress in his life, and that all day and all night long. 

A rapid shower while brushing his teeth, secret art he had mastered after years of waking up past his alarm, putting on his uniform, taking his bag, and mentally reminding himself to beat the shit out of a bear later, and he was off, as ready as he could be to face the day ahead, with the inert nonchalance of a man who had already lost it all.

He made his way to school, running like crazy (because no way he was taking his bike today, he didn’t want to die no thanks), quickly eating whatever he had found for breakfast, looking like a damn anime schoolgirl with his slice of bread stuffed into his mouth, except way more masculine, less cute, and as drenched by the rain pouring down in face (he had not taken his umbrella because it had disappeared - how surprising) as by his sweat. 

At least, even if he felt super gross, he could use the rain as an excuse for his appearance, and maybe the teacher would pity him seeing walking in the classroom with a river by his side, and let him sit down without too much trouble. 

He barely had time to think about another excuse, this time for Souji, since he would not be coming over tonight after all, he still had enough pride left to not want to destroy every pieces of composure and reputation he had carefully built over the months in front of him, before he saw someone waiting under his umbrella on the sidewalk, wearing the same uniform as him. Before he could proceed and ask himself who could be waiting there, at this time of the day, on this weather, he had already caught up. He almost ran past the boy when he realized who it was, and, of course, he should have known.

Souji was the one waiting, and judging by the startled look on his face, he hadn't expected Yosuke ignore him and make a beeline towards school, almost splashing water from a close puddle all over him with his speed, only to abruptly stop with wide alarmed eyes, missing only by a beat to fall on the damped ground. Yosuke didn't even have time to say something that Souji had already recovered, and had placed his own umbrella on top of both of them. 

"Dude, what are you doing here!?", he squealed breathlessly, his lungs were itching and he could almost taste blood on the back of his throat, urging him to calm down. Souji merely shrugged. 

"Hey you too. I was waiting for you." He probably had noticed the confused look on Yosuke's face, because he quickly added, face shutting in a little, "You haven't answered any of my texts, so I figured you were running late.", he started to move, prompting a still gasping Yosuke to follow him if he wanted a shelter. He could feel his face heat up from embarrassment for having been once again predicted by his friend, but hastily switched his attention to what had been said about texts. Right, he mentally reminded himself, he didn't have time to check his phone this morning. And now he was stuck with Souji under an umbrella, and he could definitely not think of an excuse to miss tonight when he was right there and so close. He glanced up, and noticed that Souji was going to be half drenched by the way he was trying to hold the umbrella for two people, and late too because of him, but he found no words nor strength to call him out.

To be frank, he wanted to explain to his partner why he was late, but he couldn't even bring himself to speak with all of the guilt already building up inside of him. He was almost sure that another disaster would happen as soon as he opened his mouth and besides, Souji didn't ask, which was both relieving and unnerving, because there was always that possibility that he thought Yosuke had just slacked off, or had done something wrong or worst, had tried to avoid him on purpose. 

He breathed in. Now, that was the moment where the rational part of his mind, if it still existed, was supposed to kick in. _"Come on, brain, you know Souji wouldn't think less of us just for that. And he knows Ted too, of course he would expect something like that from him! It's not even the first time!"_ That, at least, managed to calm him down a bit. But by the time he had existed from the spiral of his thoughts, he realized that they were already in front of the school, only 10 minutes late, which wasn't as bad as he initially thought, but that also meant that they had walked there in utter silence. He felt even guiltier knowing that he should have, at least, done something to lighten up the walk ; so much for being the funny-talkative friend, you ass.

Things inside didn't go as smoothly as he had expected. Kashiwagi had been harder to convince than he had hoped, probably because they were both late, and, if it wasn't that uncommon coming from him, it was more of a surprise from Souji, Top Student of the school, to show up late for school. Still, he let his partner do the talking, which had been proved to be a good idea, since he could finally sit down and drop his head on his table, already forgetting the overly unsettling remarks of their teacher, and finally being able to relax for the first time in forever. One quick glance ahead to catch the tiny knowing smile that Souji was giving him, was enough for him to crack his first smile today too. But as satisfying as it was to let the relief of not having upsetting his best-friend wash over him, that simple gesture was also a reminder that Souji had expectations for today. Expectations to show up tonight. Probably right after school too. And that was impossible. 

As much as he wanted to spend time with his partner, he couldn't just do that today. It was unfair, and he hated it but he couldn't put Souji through that too. What if he messed-up real bad and he broke down their friendship over a stupid mistake? Worse, what if Souji got hurt because of his luck!? Him injuring himself was one thing, but dragging his partner into his mess would have been terrible. Now, he knew that he probably was overreacting, but he also believed he was better safe than sorry. If he was really honest with himself though (and he had learned that he should the hard way), it was mostly the perspective of embarrassing himself times and times in front of his partner that was draining the color off his face. But what could he say? Telling him that his father gave him an impromptu shift at Junes wouldn't work, since he could still spend the night, and he was doing too good enough at school to pretend he had been grounded for something. Teddie was a factor he had to think about as well, whatever excuse he could find was one the bear could not contradict. Maybe he could call-in sick? That could work, with all the rain and shitty weather in general flowing over Inaba, colds seemed plausible. He just had to hope that Souji wouldn't try to look into his lie, or offered him to help him out, since he was the most well-meaning person around… And that thought broke something in his chest, so he decided to just stop thinking and let the minutes pass while not trying to doze off. 

During the morning he had been asked to answer questions at each class. Yes, maybe he had deserved it because it was clear that in mind was nowhere on what the teachers were saying, and each time Souji saved his butt. But still, bad luck. He even knocked his knee against his table the third time he was called, since he had been startled and stood up too quickly, barely holding in a yelp that made all of his classmates look at him for few dreadful and paralyzing seconds. Chie must have found it funny, because soon after that event he had seen her pass note to Yukiko while giggling and watching in his direction. He decided to hide his reddening face in his arms, and not lock-up for the rest of the day, maybe forever. 

Lunch was better. Not the best one he ever had by far, but it could have been worse too. Today was one of those days where they would all meet at the rooftop to eat together, usually to discuss the case or new discoveries. Except it was raining today, so they had to settle somewhere else, somewhere else being on the steps leading to the said roof. It was a bit cramped, Kanji was squeezed uncomfortably close to him because of that, his elbow painfully pressing his ribs when he moved too much, and just so happened to be drenched too for whatever reason, successfully soaking Yosuke once again, who was apparently too dry for dear old Universe. 

Still, it was by far better than eating alone at the cafeteria or in the classroom, but not as great as being only with his partner to try his (amazing) cooking. Those days rarely happened, Souji kept the habit of fairly dividing his time for everyone in order to prevent any crisis that could follow, but if he was being honest with himself, he probably had the chance to experiment those lunches more than anyone else, so he never complained. 

At least, eating with everyone was fun, even if recently, with the arrival of Risette in their group, things tended to be a bit more noisy (not in a bad way), and he had, from time to time, the urging need to drown into his music to cool down a bit.

At first Chie had made fun of him for tapping his foot to the rhythm of the songs in his mp3 player, and then called him rude for ignoring them while they were all gathered, but Souji had understood him, and had managed to sweet talk her out of bugging him. It was something he was extremely grateful and touched for, now he could even play the drum with his chopsticks when he was in the mood without weirding everyone out. His best-friend probably had explained it to new members beforehand too, since they never asked, and barely gave him a glance when he pulled up his headphones without a warning. 

Today was fine, though. He was tired, but not enough to shut down the world around him. He burned himself twice with his instant ramen, and almost tripped them over Yukiko (would he be dead if that had happened? Probably), but that only had triggered a few comments from Rise like:

"Geez, Yosuke-Senpai sure is clumsy!", oh well, it was not as if he had any chances with her anyways, since she was pretty much glued to Souji and lovesick with him already which was as fair as annoying (the fact that it was understandable was probably the most upsetting thing, in fact), so he let them slide without caring too much. 

In the end he just listened to them talking, while sometimes adding a sarcastic note of his own, or just real thoughts if about the case, nothing too unusual coming from him, but he certainly was staying oddly put in his place, which occasioned some interrogative glances from the only person that had noticed something was wrong. Still, both kept quiet about it and never asked a thing, so Yosuke bitterly figured it wasn't that much of a deal. 

Admittedly, keeping his mouth shut had carried him through lunch-period without too many issues and no broken bones. The few classes after that were okay, it was easier to pretend to be focused during the afternoon, when his mind wasn't screaming to him to sleep. So the teachers let him be. They had gotten the result from a test they had taken a week ago, and, well, the outcome wasn't much of a surprise either. He sighed when the last bell finally rang, stretching all the the way to the roof, happy to be done with the probably worst part of his day. Now he would just have to go home in one piece and lock himself up in his room, praying for his father to not give him a hellish unexpected shift, or to be hit by a car along the way. He allowed himself to daydream about his bed, a long bath, and maybe some videos-games until he noticed a school bag carefully dropping on his table, and met the expectant look of his partner, accompanied by a shy smile. 

Hah. That was it, huh.

He returned a nervous smile, hoping that it may hide the way his body had tensed up. 

"Oh, hey partner.", casual start, keep going, Yosuke.

"Hey.", after realizing that Yosuke still wasn't up to talking, Souji decided to continue, titling his head just a bit, "You still coming tonight?"

Yosuke wanted to close his eyes, instead, he gulped. He quickly checked the classroom, noticing that almost everyone had left by now, he hadn't even heard Yukiko and Chie go away. The only students remaining were too far away to hear them, and didn't look like they cared anyway, so he gathered his courage, ready to lie straight up to the face of his best-friend.

"Y-Yeah, about that man…", he looked away, gritting his teeth. That was way harder than he had expected "I-huh, kinda caught a cold you know? That may not be a good idea…"

There was another short silence. 

"Oh,", Souji replied way too neutrally for comfort, "okay…"

Did something break? 

Or was it just the sound of his heart when he heard Souji's suddenly disappointed tone? 

When he allowed himself to look at his partner's face, he was sure that it was definitely his heart. Souji was looking down, face concerned, and annoyed, as much as his friend's expressionless mask would let him decipher. Sooner than he would have liked, silver pupils were pouring into his, probably searching for evidences that Yosuke was, indeed, sick. If Yosuke was pretty sure that the word "tired" was almost written on his face at this point, and that he was probably paler than a sheet, he still couldn't bare to face Souji when he was looking so honest and, holy shit, was he worried too? He bit his lips. 

"I-huh…", somehow, he didn't know what he had wanted to say in the first place, so he just let it go, hoping that Souji would catch up. Which he did, of course, it was _him_ after all. The gray-haired boy slowly nodded, still looking a bit upset, but didn't argue with him. 

"Do you need anything? You should maybe go see the nurse."

"Y-Yup! Will do!", Yosuke jolted, and then added, more carefully, and maybe a little guiltily, "Don't worry about me partner." 

Souji hesitated. "...Right.", and with that, he started to take the first step away from Yosuke. "See you on Monday, then…", he breathed, titling his head a bit, as if to hide his eyes, and that was when Yosuke heard something else breaking: his resolve. Souji was looking so saddened, so vulnerable at this moment, just because of him, because he was too chicken to risk hurting his pride in front of him… that he hadn't realized he was standing up and reached for his shoulder. 

Souji stopped dead in his track, and gave him an interrogative glance.

"I--", he started, and unable to look away, he found within himself a whole new resolve in not making his best-friend, the very man who he could trade his life for, troubled, and to hell the many way he could embarrass himself during the process, "You know what? Screw that, I'm not feeling _that_ bad, partner! It's you and me, and whatever we are going to do tonight, now!", he almost shouted. 

Souji did look skeptical and puzzled at first, but after slowly scrutinizing his face, and finding nothing but pure thrill for what was to come, he allowed himself to smile, a genuine, excited smile that rarely showed up, and nodded, which made Yosuke fire up even more, and almost drag his friend out of the classroom to get the fun started as soon as possible.

The walk to Souji's house was mostly uneventful. They talked a bit, mostly Yosuke's chatters filling the space with small talks and rambles he barely remembered. Souji was more enthusiastic than usually, and tried to follow up every bit of conversation Yosuke was making, his eyes tracing the brunette's hands moving in each direction to emphasize his points. It felt great, refreshing, in fact, he realized that it had been quite a while since the last time they had talked this way, with saying nothing in particular, and with Yosuke not trying to not appear nor minding looking air-headed. 

Nowadays, they were often talking about the case, and more importantly, he had grown more expectations towards their friendship than before, even if he couldn't exactly pinpoint why. Every time he had tried to think about it, images of their friends and of his partner's acquaintances kept popping in his mind, harshly reminding him that each passing day made Souji more popular, and more demanded than the last. Not trying to sound jealous or anything, if he did feel a bit left out sometimes, he also knew that Souji took pride and joy in helping as many people as he could, even if that meant swinging in all directions at the same time, bending in half to meet other's will. So it was fine, he told himself, even if, on particularly bad days, he was a bit scared that with that many people around him, Souji would realize that Yosuke wasn't the nicest, nor brightest nor funniest person to be around, that he was merely average, and that someone somewhere may-- would make a better best-friend than him, not to mention that deep down he was afraid to be just like the others, attracted to him for his trustworthy demeanor, and overly dependent on his support, not there for who he truly was. 

But even if he was sometimes really paranoid, worried that he would be forgotten if they didn't hang out often enough, Yosuke had decided to back down a bit, to show his partner that he could handle his problems on his own, and that he shouldn't worry about him, and rather about the others, who maybe needed him more than him right now, and that as much as it hurt to let him go, watching him turn away from the classroom ready to meet someone else when he was just right there and totally free. At least he hoped that it would take one burden away from his friend's shoulders. 

After all, he wanted Souji to understand that he could rely on him too. 

But he had made that decision a long time ago now, and, while frustrating, it had been bearable so far. No pushing. No clinginess. But still there. 

So maybe it was always seeing him hanging out with people he didn't know that made him want to reach out and tell him "Hey partner, you know that your real friends are here right?", or maybe, and that was even _worse_ , it was the fact that despite having that many people to spend time with, Souji was deciding to meet with one of the members of the Investigation Team, one of his real friends, but not _him_ , his best-friend, his partner. It was a horrible selfish thought, he fathomed, but he couldn't help it. No matter how many times he had told himself that Risette, Yukiko, hell even Teddie needed support too, there was a lingering envious and sinister voice like a shadow hammering in the back of his mind "He chose them over you." every time, and that hurt, every time. 

Naturally, it must have put him on edge, and made him expect more and more from their little times together. Thus, spending this moment with him just for the sake of hanging out was a welcomed and thrilling change for Yosuke. 

Yet, maybe he should have known better once again. He should have realized that it was another trick, and a really dirty one. 

Luckily, it wasn't half-bad, it just hurt his pride a bit more, and made him wary because now he was almost certain that the curse could also affect Souji too. There was no other way that it could have happened otherwise. 

They noticed upon reaching his house. Yosuke was taking his shoes off, trying to not make a mess with water droplets that he had accumulated on the way with all of his jumping and heartful chatter. It was Souji who pointed it out. 

"Say…", he started. 

"Yeah?", Yosuke was still smiling, failing to get down cloud nine. 

"Don't you have a bag with your things packed for the night?"

And Yosuke's mind went blank. He was still smiling when he recalled that he was late this morning, and, of course, had not taken time to pack things up. He had totally forgot. So here he was, planning to stay the night at a friend's house, but with nothing with him.

"...Huh.", he simply replied. Souji was already making his way inside. 

"It did seem weird this morning, but I thought that maybe you had them in your school bag. That doesn't seem to be the case though.", the distant voice continued thoughtfully from somewhere in the living room.

Yosuke gulped. 

"I… Huh… Kinda forgot them. H-Hang on, I'll just go get them!", he sputtered in return.

When he was about to leave, Souji was standing in the hallway, putting on his apron (and God it was still a weird sight).

"It's fine, you have been in the rain enough for today. I'll just lend you some of my stuff.", he paused, eying Yosuke carefully, "Besides, weren't you feeling sick?"

The brunette straightened up, trying his best to refrain a nervous laugh.

"Hah, huh, yeah, but I'm feeling better now!", he looked away which was plainly challenging his words.

If Souji probably knew that he was lying before Yosuke had even said anything, he didn't comment on it, instead, he just turned away with a small amused smile tugging his lips.

"You still should go take a bath, I would feel bad if you ended up feeling even sicker."

Although he knew he couldn't see it, Yosuke just nodded, briefly glancing at the door on last time before properly entering the house. He felt bewildered, torn between the unease of having lied to Souji again, and the fact that none of them had noticed that sooner. If it wasn't much of a surprise for him (he had rushed throughout the day without thinking twice about it), it was a bit more concerning for Souji. 

Now, as far as Yosuke was concerned, there were two possibilities, either Souji had noticed during their trip and had made the conclusion that Yosuke never planned on going since the beginning, and had been lying about his sickness (which was both right and wrong, since he _did_ went to go, and was cursed and being cursed counted as being sick yes), either Souji had been cursed too, or rather victim of his malediction meaning that the light mood on their way home had just been a setup for both of them to oversee that.

Souji was lending him some clothes, and probably had non-used toothbrushes, so, in the end, it was fine and not that much of a deal but ultimately it was the implications of any of these explanations that was terrifying. On one hand, Souji was thinking his friend didn't want to spend time with him, which was about the opposite of the truth, and on the other hand well, they were probably fucked up because of him and one of them would likely _die_ before dawn.

Somehow he didn't know what was worse.

"Are you just gonna stand in the middle of the living room for the rest of the day?", a voice called.

"Huh?", with that, Yosuke exited from his reverie, almost jumping at the very predictable sight of Souji, who was staring at him. 

He started to feel flustered, it was rude to just stand there, and frankly ridiculous, maybe he could pretend he was reviewing the case- he had been deep in thoughts after all- it would be believable, right? 

Or… 

He looked at Souji, who was slowly getting concerned again at Yosuke's restlessness.

Or maybe he should shut up. 

He glanced nervously away, tugging lightly at his headphones's cord. 

"Right, sorry.", he managed as he started taking in the house for the first time since his arrival, noticing that something was missing "Hey, where's Nanako-chan?", he asked successfully distracted. 

Souji shrugged nonchalantly, "She is over at a friend's. She is spending the night."

Oh. 

_Oooh._

Did that mean…?

Upon noticing the look of realization on Yosuke's face, he added with a small smirk, "I don't know for Dojima yet, but if it's anything like usual, he should be back late, or maybe not at all."

  
  
  


Strike. 

  
  
  


_'Hey- wait- oh oh, stop that.'_ He didn't even know why his mind said that. His mind was weird like that sometimes. 

Oh but, he had been so focused on his problems that he had forgot about his partner all over again, so much for trying to be independent and reliable. Still, a small smile had made its way towards his face without him being able to refrain it, and he felt so much lighter that his chest might have just flied off. He did feel a bit bad for Dojima, though, the poor man never stopped working, even on weekends. But, hey, that meant that Souji had decided to invite _him_ over when no one was around so that meant that they were _alone_ for hours! And there went his chest again. 

"Alright partner! We're going to make tonight the best hangout ever! Just watch me!", he shouted pointing himself with his thumb that matched a bright grin, _'I'll make it worth.'_ , he almost added, before noting that it would probably have killed the mood, and the last thing he wanted was a lecture from his oh so preciously devoted best friend, and he was fired up again. At this point, he didn't even care if them being alone was another part of his bad luck or not, this decided that this was actually a _blessing_ , after all, anyone would kill for so much free time with the Souji Seta! 

Oh but wait - what if the curse wanted to raise his hopes up, just so it could break them better with a bad news or an impromptu event later? No, no, no, he shouldn't think about that. Man, his emotions were going all out tonight. Focus, he commended himself. 

"Sure thing.", Souji went back to the kitchen, still smiling, looking a bit relieved, "But shower first. I'll bring the things over."

"Yeah, yeah, mom.", Yosuke gracelessly rolled his eyes, playfully pretending to be annoyed. He heard Souji snort as he quickly made his way to the bathroom. 

It was not his first time showering here, but it still felt a bit odd, it was probably the perspective of being so vulnerable in a place that wasn't really home, which made it look like a bit intrusive, maybe. He supposed that it was normal to feel that way and settled waiting, arms crossed against his chest, sitting against the sink, because there was no way he would just start to get undressed right now. With his luck, Souji would walk in at the worst humanly possible timing, and if he could save the embarrassment of being naked in front of his partner, then, he would gladly take it. 

  
  


Non-surprisingly, he showed up few minutes after, with neatly folded clothes in his arms, supposedly a sweatpants, judging by the look, and Yosuke noted that it was a good thing that they were both about the same height, which saved him a lot of unnecessary… discomfort, he would say. Should he feel weirded out by borrowing his clothes? It was a particular situation, and, well, maybe it was still a little off putting, but they were partners after all, so nothing to worry about… Probably.

He thanked Souji, not really knowing how to act upon the awkwardness of seeing him entering normally and just casually dropping clothes while Yosuke waited, although he didn't seem to mind, and was out sooner than later.

Yosuke let out a tiny sigh he didn't know he was holding, and proceeded to get undressed. Still weird, but it felt good to get rid of his wrinkled rain-soaked clothes. He tried to fold them, but seconding he was terrible at that, he just dropped them next to the sink, finally ready to shower. 

Man, hot water felt great on his skin, he wished he could have taken a bath or something, because the feeling was particularly divine today. Souji probably wouldn't have minded either, but he wanted to get out soon, to spend as much time as he could with him. He looked over the shampoos and shower gels, scanning for the ones Souji usually used, which was a weird thing to think about, but he _needed_ to clean himself up, after all. (Presumably) Nanako's strawberry shampoo was sitting there, in its cute flowery package, next to Dojima's stuff, since the aftershave was neatly standing in the middle of everything, and just under, most likely the products Souji used, pined flavored, apparently, he couldn't say he had paid that much attention before, though it did smell a bit like his hair now that he was focusing on that point. 

Wow, now, that was prying into something personal, Yosuke. He decided to stop thinking about the way his best friend _smelled_ , _'seriously, dude, what's wrong with you'_ , and busied himself with savoring the shower for good. 

That is, until he decided that he was done, and walked towards the sink again, this time to dry up and get into his pajamas. 

Frankly, it was his fault this time. He had just been careless, way too deep in his thoughts, and wasn't paying attention at all. It happened so quickly he wasn't even watching. 

He was just drying his back with a towel, and wanted to put it back up in the front for his chest. He probably had been too fast, too rough, but his wrist had reacted too quickly and-- well-- almost sent the towel away in a slash he could have done with one of his kunai. Though not as sharp nor strong, the towel hit the mirror in front of him right in the corner, making a swift absolutely alarming sound.

It fell on him.

Back to thinking about it, he was glad about something else with him, the great reflexes he had sometimes. It was ridiculous, when he realized, that a mirror, _attached_ to the wall would fall just for a towel, but he managed to catch it barely in time before it handed up in the sink and, well, in millions of potentially deadly and sharp pieces. The edge hit right on his nose, and he must have let out a cry as loud as the noise of the mirror falling over, but it was secured in his hands and that was all that mattered. 

Now that it was safe enough, he could panic as much as he wanted too. 

He was standing awkwardly in the middle of Souji's bathroom, holding with both his hands and face Dojima's mirror, and naked- and oh Dojima would kill him if he knew- could he even fix this? How was it attached anyways? He could barely see a thing with the glass in front of his nose. And it hurt so bad, why were noses so sensitive in the first place!? He knew that the house was old and starting to fall apart but he did not want to be a part of that. 

Just when he thought that the situation couldn't get worse, he heard footsteps coming over, soon followed by an uncertain knock on the door. 

Yosuke froze. 

"Yosuke?", a murmur echoed.

Did he lock the door? He didn't, right? He had forgot to lock that damn door hadn't he. 

"Are you alright?", the voice followed softly.

He gulped, straightening a bit, holding the mirror as if his life depended on it.

"Huh… Yeah, I'm fine…", he lied, oh please, gods, Jiraiya, Personas, anything please let him believe him for once. 

"Are you hurt? I think I heard something falling…", the voice was calm, and a bit concerned, _'of course he would be'_ , he thought while painfully closing his eyes.

"Nop! I just…", he looked everywhere helplessly as if the walls would help him in any way, "I knocked my… head on a shelve… Haha, silly me, right partner?", he nervously added. Oh, he was so busted. What if Souji walked in? What if he saw him like that? Why didn't he lock that freaking door again!?

That was it, the most horrifying moment of his life. 

  
  


He stayed put in dead silence.

Finally, Souji spoke again.

"Are you sure?", he seemed uncertain, well, he wasn't the only one.

"Y-yeah! Sure!", he started, then bit his lips as he tried to regain some composure, "Just… Huh… Don't walk in, okay, how do you-", he stopped. Souji must have been curious on the other side, but said nothing which helped him gather his courage. He closed his eyes again, but this time in defeat. 

"... How do you put a mirror on a wall, again?"

Souji didn't reply. 

He shouldn't have said anything, Yosuke realized, he should have tried to fix it himself. How ridiculous must he have sounded now? What if Souji was mad? He had every right to be! Yosuke was literally destroying his uncle's house (almost) in front of him!

"... Yosuke did you detach the mirror?", the voice sounded dumbfounded, a weird tone coming from him.

"Huh…", he titled his head, gritting his teeth, "... Maybe…?", he was so screwed. 

Then he heard a laughter. 

Halfway between a snort and a giggle, breathless and shy, but honest. Relief washed over Yosuke so quickly that he almost missed the embarrassment starting to warm him up. Oh, if only Souji knew the state he was in now, his snicker would probably turn into full laughter, and Yosuke's embarrassment into pure dread. 

"Is it broken?", he finally said, "You sure you are not hurt, right?"- his voice was already switching back to his serious tone.

Uh-oh, he could almost picture him with his hand on the doorknob, ready to enter any second out of worry. 

"No it's not I, huh, caught it in the fall, it's a bit heavy though.", he tried to joke.

"Just put it next to the sink then.", he paused, "It happens all the time, don't worry. I really have to fix it properly. I should have warned you, so-"

"No, it's fine!", he promptly cut him, "It was a bit surprising, but it's my fault after all, I should be the one that is sorry."

He exhaled, trying to put the mirror where he had been indicated as slowly as possible. It felt great to get rid of that. Faster than ever, he wrapped a towel around his waist and, phew, crisis averted.

He was so lucky that Souji didn't decide to come in to check up on him. 

Little by little, his face that somehow had been both white and red at the same time regained its natural color. 

"I'm just glad you are okay. Do you need anything before I go?"

Souji, as serving as always, that made him crack a smile.

"I'm fiiine, partner. I swear.", he insisted. He just really wanted to be alone for few seconds to recover.

He heard a low hum of recognition, though a bit dubious, followed by footsteps which supposedly indicated that Souji was going back to the kitchen. Yosuke quickly put pajamas he had been lended with extra care. 

Oh well, that went about as bad as he could have expected. He darted a look at the mirror, murmuring a quiet apology, before stretching to relieve the remaining tension from his shoulders. Souji had lent him a grey pair of sweatpants, and a long sleeved black shirt. It was a bit too long for him, especially since he was more of a short-sleeved person, but it looked so Souji, even on him, that he decided that he didn't mind that much, secretly even enjoying the change a bit. What could he say, right? It was comfy after all, and he looked okay in black according to his old fallen comrade on the floor.

Swiftly, he exited the bathroom, hoping to leave behind all evidences of his failure. When he walked towards the kitchen, he was greeted with a wonderful smell that made his mouth water, and his eyes close in wonder. 

"What are you cooking?"

Souji looked at him, barely hiding how his eyes drifted on him from head to toes with a slight smirk. Now that felt oddly like checking him out. Souji was still wearing his apron, steering something in a big pot, "Just some curry, we can even eat it later if you are not hungry yet.", he said, voice suspiciously high pitched. 

Yosuke would have tried to interpret the sudden rush of emotions in his partner's voice if he hadn't brightened on the spot. 

"Are you kidding? Man, your curry is like, my favorite dish ever!", his grin reached his eyes, and seemed to please Souji, who hummed again, this time in contentment.

There was something on whole new levels of domesticity about this situation. Yosuke casually walking around in Souji's house, in Souji's clothes, while he was cooking for both of them in an apron. Souji was about everywhere he was looking, feeling, _smelling_ (hell, even himself smelled like him now) so much it made him dizzy. His stomach twisted a bit, his chest fluttered, and his breath rigged, could he taste Souji too? He was pretty sure he could if he tried. It felt almost as if he belonged there, like another part of the decor, the same as any of Souji's belongings, intimate in a way that should probably put him off, but between his stomach yearning for food, and his partner's satisfied smile, he couldn't bring himself to care that much about that unsettling impression. 

Instead, he helped his friend set up the table, trying to snip a bit of curry when Souji wasn't looking but, well, Souji was _always_ looking, and soon enough they were both grinning at each other like idiots, and Yosuke kicked out of the kitchen for "security measures", apparently "distracting" the cook.

That gave him some time to just observe him from afar, thing, he realized, he had barely done today. Not that he was often staring at him, of course, but it was an understatement to say that people were drawn to his partner, and Yosuke was no exception yet again. When Souji was in a room, people looked at him, when he talked, they listened, when he laughed, they would shut up to enjoy the sound, those were just basic and common truths that were encrusted into Yosuke's life. He didn't mind that much anymore, he used to be jealous, yes, but he always had understood, and with time he just grew to accept it, and even enjoy it too, he was proud of Souji, more than he could ever be proud of anyone else, including himself, so he was glad to know that he got the recognition he deserved, even if that made him look somehow even more unreachable sometimes. 

Yosuke liked to remind himself that it was just appearances, while Souji did look like a demi-god far beyond human reach from time to time, he knew probably more than anyone else that it was not the case. He knew what made him human, his tastes, emotions, weaknesses and flaws, Souji gave about as much as he was receiving, care, respect, gentleness, but also caution, anger and sorrow, if not more, and that was what impressed Yosuke the most. No matter how famous he was, how busy and seemingly perfect, he always gave time for others, not always in a meaningful helping way, sometimes, just to hang out like normal friends too, like right now. 

He breathed in slowly, resting his chin on his hand. Sometimes, he wondered if people could see him like he did. He both liked and disliked this idea. He liked to believe that there was something between them that only they could see and feel, a partnership that made them special for each other, something unbreakable and precious, like their own treasure. He assumed it was reciprocal, Souji had invited _him_ over, after all, not anyone else, and he was by far the most fluent person in "Souji-language" around, no doubt about that, he could almost perfectly pinpoint when he was feeling down, happy, excited, exasperated… Souji probably enjoyed it too, right? Having someone by his side who understood him without any words, with nothing but a glance, someone who he could rely on when his burden was too much to carry alone… A partner.

As Yosuke still eyed him, he took in his relaxed posture, his satisfied smile, the faint gleam in his silvery eyes, Souji was undoubtedly happy right now, and it was easy to know why, still that thought alone was enough to make Yosuke's chest ache, and his stomach tighten, both suffocating him in an addictive way. His was looking great like this, he liked the sight of his partner being content. He liked it too much, maybe, judging by how engrossed he was about scanning his face, making out every place where his hair went a bit wild, defying the almost perfect still dorky bowlcut, the form of his jaw strong yet delicate, then glancing at the length of his pale neck, uncharacteristically free of his uniform jacket, the collar of his shirt loosely hanging on the squared shoulders, his eyes followed the white fabric, sliding down to the surprisingly skinny waist for someone so muscular…

_'Now who is checking who out, huh?'_ , his voice rang in his ears. His cheeks heated up as he bit the inside of his mouth, mentally scolding himself. But he couldn't help it, when Souji was there, and his mind not wandering into a spiral of depreciating thoughts, it just gravitated around him, like a satellite. 

He slightly shook his head to get rid of his reverie, and decided that Souji definitely needed some more fun in his life with how little time he took to rest, that would be his excuse for making his way towards him with a malicious smirk, ready to be worthy of his title of "distraction", and not because he suddenly had the need to be closer to him, nor to remind his partner subtly that, no matter what, he wasn't alone.

  
  


The meal was perfect. Not just good, but really splendid. Either Souji went all out today, or Yosuke was just that desperate of anything remotely positive. He had often been told that food tasted better when shared, and, while he supposed that it made sense, never ever would he have understood this statement better than right now. Little to say that it was succulent, everything Souji did was, but the carefree, joyful mood from earlier had returned like it had never left, wrapping them both in a blanket of comfort and warmth in their little space of a living room. It was almost overwhelming to move to put away the dishes, the air around them too good to be risked to be blown away by anything, even with an action as mundane as standing up. 

Yosuke, once again, was struck by the serenity he found around Souji. As if everything was soothed around him when they were alone, with no one else to disturb them. He wondered when it had started, when he had definitely put his defensive walls away from him, so much that he wasn't even afraid of putting his foot in his mouth and saying something stupid anymore. He always tried to make a good impression, especially when he could plan his actions beforehand, but when he was facing the reality of living the situation, he often got too carried away to mind anymore, and started to act on impulse, promptly worsening almost anything. He was tired of that. But with his partner around, it didn't feel as much as an issue anymore. He didn't have to foresee, he didn't have to pretend, he could mess up without it mattering.

"So, hum…", he started absentmindedly, suddenly seeking the need to break the silence, "About that mirror…"

Souji looked up at him, "I'll just put it back on the wall later, I really have to fix it for good, I'll do that when I have some time."

Yosuke inwardly sighed, and there went another task on his everlasting list of things to do. He felt a bit bad for that one, he was about half responsible for it after all.

Before he could think about it anymore, Souji settled next to him, resting one arm on the table, using the other to uplift himself.

"So, you're gonna tell me about it?", he said.

"Huh?", he blinked. The mirror? True that he hadn't explained how it happened.

Souji soft expression switched a bit, becoming increasingly knowing, "You don't seem very sick to me." 

"Ah, aaah, huh…", he sputtered in return, as if it was helpful in any way. He had entirely forgot about that lie until now, but of course, _he_ wouldn't have. 

Souji trailed off on his own, not expecting anymore of an answer from Yosuke at this point, "But you do seem a little…", he searched a way to phrase it properly, eyes drifting upward, "...preoccupied, maybe. Is something wrong?", he finally asked with concern, locking his eyes into the brunette's.

Yosuke knew that look. Souji didn't use it that much, probably because he disliked pushing people out of their comfort zone, especially to force them to talk, he knew that Yosuke especially had trouble with expressing his personal thoughts and worries most of the time, so very rarely forced the words out of him, rather waiting for him to be ready. He was glad that he did, really, more often than not he would have been rewarded by an incoherent blabber that would eventually embarrass them both he if tried otherwise.

It wasn't a "forcing" look per se, but the genuine interest and serious aura shining in the silver eyes made it hard to not comply when he did that. Whatever was happening in his head must have worked him up quite a bit for him use that skill on him now. 

Yosuke quietly sighed, it was only fair, he presumed, he had been acting quite moody today, that without giving any proper explanation for his temper to his partner, nor any of his friends for the matter, he just hoped he hadn't worried them too. While he winced at this displeasing thought, he also reminded himself why he couldn't just tell the truth either. It was ridiculous after all. No one would believe him if he explained that he was cursed by a terrible luck and had to live through catastrophic days to punish him for this knowledge, or if they somehow did, they wouldn't be able to understand either. People were claiming they had bad luck all the time, when they failed a test, lost a game, or tripped over something unexpected, but nothing was remotely close to competing with what Yosuke was experiencing on daily basis. None of them had a bike who crashed on him almost once a week, twice in a row in a trashcan, no one had been bashed as the bringer of misery in their poor little town because of a business that neither him, nor technically his family was responsible of, no one had seen the shadow of their late dead crush spitting out in their face that they hated him all along and- Wow. He breathed out. He was getting too antsy. 

Souji would try to understand, probably, he wouldn't think that he was lying at the very least, but surely that he was overreacting, and he didn't want that. As stupid as it sounded, it was the thing that he was constantly living with, and he preferred the others not knowing at all rather than not taking him seriously yet again. 

Through his conflicted thoughts, Yosuke noticed Souji leaning a bit towards him, with an earnest look on his face.

"You can tell me anything, you know.", he almost whispered. He made a move to shift his hand, almost reaching out to his shoulder, but stopped midway, probably to not startle Yosuke or something. 

And that was, again, so Souji to do that. That look, those gestures, that tone, Yosuke sighed almost irritated for no reason he could care to think about now, Souji was so considerate so purely nice that he felt like giving in again and give it a try, and consequences be damned. 

  
  


"Well, that's really dumb.", he started. 

  
  


Souji listened all the same. 

  
  


He told him everything, since the moment he had realized that luck existed, to the consequences of having terrible and horrible days because of this forbidden knowledge, he even punctuated his tell with examples that came to his mind as he talked and the effects of his good luck ring he was still wearing today. In the end, it was messy and disorganized, but Souji had not say a word through it all, nodding along the way to keep him going, encouraging to talk and talk again until he was all dried out, free of any hurt and resentments.

When Yosuke was finally done, he felt a bit foolish. Saying it aloud was very differing from thinking about it, and now that it was out in the open, it felt oddly intangible, yet real too, as if a reality he had grown to be accustomed to was finally being heavy enough for him to talk about it, letting it fall over them both, bewilderingly invisible, yet still there. It made him look like a a paranormal freak who desperately needed to be special, probably, but it was relieving in a way, to share this with someone else. Souji for a fact, didn't seem to consider him crazy. 

The silence between them was tense, full of unanswered questions and confusion, but Yosuke didn't dislike it that much, he was able to breathe properly for the first time in forever, which left him, surprisingly, very much exhausted.

Meanwhile Souji was deep in thoughts, going over everything he had said, most likely looking for anything that could make sense in his testimony, a weird devotion that warmed Yosuke's heart. 

Finally, Souji looked at him in the eyes and said:

"I believe you."

And Yosuke felt like his bones melted with how touched he was.

He leaned his head on the table, letting out a strangled chuckle, that got halfway caught in his throat, and Souji gently rubbed his back in a soothing manner. 

He understood. Maybe not everything, but he had realized that Yosuke was serious, and was taking it as much, and, to be honest, that was all Yosuke could care about now. Souji believed him, he understood, he didn't try to reason him nor dismiss or lighten it, he was seeing how badly affected he was by all of this, and was respecting it, he _cared_ about it.

  
  
  
  


Oh god, he loved that guy so much. 

  
  
  
  


Would wouldn't? He was a literal angel fallen from the sky with no wings ('so like a person, Yosuke', the smugy jerk would reply.). Yosuke nervous laugh had died down by now, and he was just sitting there, head against the table, his best-friend petting his back, in a miserable attempt to contemplate his life after declaring the most absurd nonsense in the world. He almost felt like laughing again, this time maybe a bit more bitterly.

"So… Is that why you have been feeling down today?", Souji tried. 

"Yep.", he sighed, "Sorry for being late this morning, Ted took the batteries off my alarm for... something.", he cringed lowly. 

Souji thoughtfully hummed. When Yosuke slightly turned his head to uncover one of his eyes to look at him, he noticed a deep focused expression on his partner's face, who was most likely picturing the day from the very beginning.

"Sorry for the umbrella too,", he trailed, "Mine disappeared somewhere…", he vaguely gestured in front of him. "You got soaked because of me too."

Souji shook his head. "It's fine.", he paused, "How often do you have days like that?"

"Hmm…", Yosuke glanced up, "I guess, once a month? Twice, maybe?".

"And, what was the worst thing that happened?"

That was actually a good question. Yosuke straightened up, sitting properly now, and brought his fingers to cup his chin. Well, there was that one time when Chie threw him into Samegawa river because she thought he was checking her legs out (he swore he had seen something weird moving on the grass, but she had not believed him), and almost breaking both his phone and headphones in the process, or the one where he had been shoved the responsability of cleaning up the soccer team gross and sweaty sweatshirts for no clear nor justified reason which made him miss the sales for on his favorite band concert ticket, and the campout definitely counted as a potential candidate for the worst experience he ever lived altogether, but...

"I guess…", he breathed in, "The day where my father gave me that shift at Junes right before the Golden Week. I mean, it was already a pain in the ass since I had to double check our special stock at least twice, and that customers were already rushing in because of special discounts… We were short of staff, so I had to balance everything almost alone.", he sighed, "It doesn't seem like much said like that, but that was easily the most tiring day of my life, and that, right after we went into the TV, and man, not paid at all, because I had broken up my bike again and my dad suddenly decided to fix it himself, declaring only after that I had to pay him for it one way or another…", he cursed, gritting his teeth, "The customers were awful that day, one of them almost threw a musky water bucket that the cleaning staff had left on the ground because I told them that the discount they were looking for only began the next day." He frowned, remembering the harsh words that he had received, and venomous whispers he had heard behind his back. He decided to shrug them off. "My headphones had been busted in the other side that day, remember?", he traced a pattern on the table with his index, absentmindedly, "Luckily they started to work again the next day, but it sucked while it lasted."

Souji was silent, so Yosuke looked over to him. He was wearing a puzzled expression, maybe annoyed too, which surprised him, he had expected amusement, or at the very best sympathy.

"That day… I remember it… You had offered me to hang out with you, but I chose to go inside of the TV…", he bit his bottom lip guiltily. 

Yosuke blinked. Yes, that was true, he had desperately craved his partner's company that day, anyone's, really, but rather him of course, they hadn't spend much time together around that time, and he was feeling especially down and in need for attention that day. Kind of pathetic. That was a little pitiful, so he had purposefully tried to avoid that part… 

"Well, you're the leader after all.", was all he could reply.

Souji shook his head. "I'm sorry, if I had accepted that day, maybe things would have gone better for you. At least you would have had your music.", before Yosuke could say anything, he added, "Maybe I could have been there to help you at Junes too."

Now he was clearly embarrassed. He hated asking for help, especially concerning his work, and he most likely wouldn't have done it either way but… It was true that if he had been with Souji that day when his father had called him, he would have probably offered to lend a hand. That could have help him lots that day. 

"Why didn't you say anything? You could have called me, you know.", Souji kept going, which was a rare occurrence, increasing his surprise.

"You were already tired enough. All of you.", he automatically replied. "I didn't want to be a bother."

Yosuke felt he hand gently squeeze his shoulder, and he glanced up at Souji, who was giving a faint smile.

"You would never.", his tone was so soft and his voice so low that it sounded almost believable, Yosuke thought. He tried to smile in return. 

"Besides," Souji added, "you could have called me to vent a bit too, I wouldn't have minded either, I swear, I'm always there for you.", 

Yosuke swallowed, smiling with more enthusiasm, and promptly ignoring completely the feeling of warmth that was coating his chest. He truly didn't deserve someone like him in his life. 

"I know.", he whispered, almost tempted to look away, but he wanted to be sure that Souji knew that too. 

"That's why I didn't want to, partner,", he winked, "You could take one night without me calling you to complain!", he laughed, louder and more joyful, even allowing himself to playfully nudge his friend's shoulder.

  
  


Souji smiled, seemingly satisfied, and understood the invitation Yosuke had gave him to dropped the subject in favor of doing something more uplifting. He stood up, lended a hand to the brunette to lift him up too.

"There is a show I'd like to see, I think you'll like it.", he declared. 

Yosuke returned the grin, and took the hand, nodding in approbation. 

Souji sat on the sofa, and turned on the TV, a simple gesture that somehow made them both instinctively look through the window, only to see it was still raining outside. Yosuke quickly washed away the feeling of unease that was creeping up in his spine. Nothing was supposed to happen that soon and, even if it did, Souji was right there, they'd both notice it, if anything, that would just help them to act even quicker. While he was daydreaming about this morose subject, his partner had already selected the right channel, which was about to display a movie apparently, with that, Yosuke's attention drifted back to the living room, and more importantly, the couch which seemed oddly appealing. 

Exhausted from their previous conversation, Yosuke decided to give in to the feeling of mushiness in his knees, and dropped himself on the sofa, back first. He half-landed on something hard, that he assumed was Souji's shoulders and chest, but it was warm, and kind of comfortable too, Yosuke could see the TV pretty well from here, and the program was about to start, so he selfishly treated himself by staying put, that is until Souji complained. 

He didn't. 

At some point through the movie, which was indeed rather interesting, an arm had wrapped his chest loosely, which Yosuke excused on comfort, since it would be cramped otherwise. He was the one crushing his partner there, so he couldn't really mind about Souji attempts to sit better, even if that led them to an almost-cuddling sort of posture. 

It was fine. The tiny rises of his head following his friend's chest were soothing, and Souji smelled good (oh not again with that, Yosuke), so much that he had to force himself to comment everything that was happening on screen to not doze off. He had been a bit concerned that he was being annoying, forcing Souji into this position, with the brunette almost on top of him, without even indulging him the assurance of following the show serenely without Yosuke half-assed attempts to make a proper joke, but Souji didn't seem to mind either. Most of the time he was just humming along, with that tiny amused tone that gave Yosuke the energy to keep on going. 

The movie ended quickly, Yosuke barely saw the time pass, surprising him just as much. He wasn't the type of person who could really stay put, usually kind of nervous, he often had the urges to tap his feet regularly on the ground, shift position, or having his attention drifting away rapidly. This time, though, he had not moved since the beginning. Well, he probably had, but without realizing it, anyways, it was enough to be noteworthy, he must really have been more tired than he thought. 

Moving was hard, but he did it nonetheless. Souji probably had to stretch, and, even if Yosuke already missed the warmth that used to be on his left side and right hip, he was mostly glad that his friend had let him drop off like that. He didn't even ask him to move away once, maybe it had been comfortable for him too. 

They talked a bit about the movie, listing everything they had liked, from the scenes to the music, and also the things they would have personally changed while vehemently disagreeing on the dangers of bringing an unknown specie from another planet into a spaceship, no matter how cute it was, Souji come on. 

With that, they headed upstairs, decided to settle their debate with a fighting game (which Yosuke was ninety percent sure to win). 

At some point, after games and more debates, this time on what were the best ways to make a character instantly lovable in fiction and what was the best fighting style between being super fast or insanely strong, Souji declared that he had to go wash up, and get into his pajamas, leaving Yosuke alone in his room.

He spent the first five minutes despite himself thinking of missed comebacks for the debates that he suspected he had lost, and then grew too restless to think anymore - seriously _that_ punchline was gold why couldn't he have thought of it sooner? - he scooted around the room, looking for nothing. He inspected the nestled folded cranes on the table and shelves, wondering both when Souji had found the time and the boredom to do that and if he could have done that too with his own dubious skills. Models, envelopes, photos of mouth-watering meal… everything there reminded Yosuke the many talents of his partner. All the thing he could never pull off… His own room was alright, cool decorations, few posters to embellish the walls, his guitar claiming its own reserved side, an impressive collection of CDs, yes, he really liked it, but nothing there really _belonged_ to him, well, it did, but it was nothing that he had created himself, right? He hummed alone in the room, deciding that he would try harder to make his own music from now one. 

Now that he had looked around a bit, he allowed himself to think more about the disposition of the room than the things exposed. It was a fairly simple one, but functional, so Souji, again. The desk was neatly tidied, and the shelve on it showing diverse book that looked all more boring than the last. The couch was fine, if a bit hard, Yosuke thought it was pretty old, but he was no expert. Souji's closets were smaller than his, well, maybe not anymore since he probably hadn't a bear living inside of it… but maybe a cat? He was totally the kind of guy who could hide a cat in his room… Yosuke was actually tempted to check on that, and, hey, maybe he would finally find were Souji was hiding the goods in the process. 

But, still, that wasn't something anyone was supposed to do. He would have been pretty freaked out if he walked in his room only to find Souji looking everywhere. He honestly couldn't have resisted on checking under the futon, but luckily for him, or unfortunately, he wasn't sure, it had been folded and put away in the corner of the room for the day. 

Souji chose this moment to come back, hair still a bit damp from the shower, making his bowlcut look even more circling his head, which Yosuke would have found funny if he wasn't too embarrassed by standing awkwardly in the middle of his room. He didn't seem to mind, though, since Souji just let himself drop on his couch with a content sigh, eyes closed. His skin was still a little flushed from the shower, which probably meant that he was the type of person who liked hot water, a rather surprising fact for the brunette. He kind of could picture his partner as the archetype of no waster, who enjoyed cold water both to save time in the shower and to challenge themselves or brag about the benefits of cold water for blood circulation. Yosuke almost snorted at that thought, and noticed upon staring at his friend's neck that they were wearing the same kind of outfit. That was something that he should definitely have expected, Souji wasn't known for his endless wardrobe, nor his finest fashion sense, he most likely only had sweatpants and loosed shirt as pajamas, but those were more than enough, functional and comfortable, so Yosuke decided not to tease him for that this time, instead, he chose to enjoy the way their clothes matched, save for the color. His shirt was pitch black, and Souji's dark green, the pants, although, were both the same grey, a terrible lack of color for Yosuke's taste, but still enjoyable for the similarities. It kind of looked liked they were both wearing a beginning of the same uniform that wasn't the school one for once, definitely a thing partners could do. 

In the end, he settled his gaze on the floor, to avoid staring too much, even if he wanted to say aloud how cool it was to him that they were matching, it would probably sound quite off-putting once off of his mouth. Somehow, the silence became a bit heavier for him afterwards, so he busied himself with thinking of what to do now. They could still play, or watch another movie, or maybe just talk, hey, it had been quite some time since they had last talked about girls, right? Maybe he could bring that up. A devilish grin appeared on his face. They had met several other girls since the last time, someone must have caught his eye… 

He turned towards his friend, ready to land his question, only to fall dead in his track. It wasn't that something had stopped him, rather that his voice had left him, and for no reason he could think of, he couldn't bring himself to ask. And now he was opening and closing his mouth in rhythm, looking probably like some kind of dumb gross fish. 

Souji, for his part, seemed rather amused by Yosuke's face, as testified his smirk and lifted eyebrow. The jerk was just waiting for him to talk with that teasing grin of his, pressing him to just even try to say what he was about to ask. Yosuke groaned, and hastily grabbed the pillow sitting next to the folded futon before throwing it right in Souji's face. He caught it in the fly, after all, the pillow had been far enough for Yosuke's move to be predictable, but chuckled nonetheless.

"Good point, we have to set the futons for the night.", he smugly said, hugging the pillow to his chest. 

"But of course, that was my goal after all.", Yosuke replied, exaggeratedly rolling his eyes. 

It was something they had to do, though. 

"You still keep the spare downstairs?", he asked. 

Souji nodded, and stood up.

"I'll go get it!", Yosuke prompted, somehow he didn't really wanted to mess with Souji's futon anymore, "You just go ahead and prepare that one."

As he started to exit the room, Souji stepped closer to him.

"No, it's okay, you are the guest, I'll do it."

Yosuke eyed him skeptically. "Don't, it's fine partner.", he crossed his arms.

"No I mean it, I should be the one doing it."

"I tell ya', it's quicker that way.", he walked into the corridor at a determined space, only to find Souji following him.

"But it would be rude, what about you think of what we are doing next ?", he prompted.

Yosuke frowned, Souji was being uncharacteristically coercing for something that mattered that little. He forced his way to the stairs, ignoring the successions of complaints coming from his friend, decided to go get that futon no matter what. 

It was just a small disagreement over nothing, but it had made Yosuke distracted enough to not pay attention to his surroundings for few brief seconds. 

  
  


That was when he heard a cracking sound. 

Suddenly, he felt like he was falling, or rather like the ground under his feet had disappeared. 

The next thing he knew, everything was black.

  
  
  
  


When he came to, he was greeted by the sound of his shaky exhale, a bright light almost blinding his eyes, the noticeable absence of hurt tingling his upper body and something warm and soft pressed on his back. 

Upon realizing that he was still at Souji's, in his living room, awkwardly sat on the floor, and definitely alive, he let his body relax a bit, the back of his head lightly bumping into something harder, which he figured later was a collarbone. 

Too focused in calming his nerves, and trying to get back the control of his frozen body, he almost missed the unfocused voice whispering close to his ear, barely registering arms slightly tightening around his stomach.

"Yosuke, are you okay?". The voice was tensed, ragged, coming from someone who was apparently struggling to breathe as well. 

Souji. 

It was Souji's. 

Yosuke eyes widened as his body moved on its own, only turning, and proving that he, indeed, had been pressed against Souji. It probably should have startled him, but the shock made him work on autopilot, explaining why he had only stopped when his face settled few centimeters away from the other's. 

He scrutinizing every details he could inhale, searching for anything, injuries, discomfort, hurt, _explanations_. Yosuke felt two hands clenching slightly the back of his shirt, and both of them holding their breathes in, he couldn't spot anything save from astonishment on his partner's face. 

"Yosuke, are you hurt?", Souji repeated, breaking the silence with a whisper. 

Was he? Had he been hurt? No, he didn't feel hurt, Souji had stopped his fall and... he glanced up, noticing that they were all the way down the stairs... he had cushioned it. How had he…? When did he…? Did he managed to hold on to him while he was falling? How impossible was that!?

Yosuke suddenly felt a bit ill, and went for wrapping Souji's shoulders in his hands, holding him firmly to the ground, only to realize a second later that he was, in fact, the one who needed to be steadied by an anchor, and his hold became all the more desperate. His face was draining from all color, utterly replaced by confusion. He looked everywhere, trying to take everything in, while calming his mind. 

"I'm fine, what about you?", his voice was trembling, but his body was as rigid as stone. 

Souji slowly nodded, still looking concerned. Absentmindedly, he started to run soothing circles on Yosuke's back with one of his hand, going for a small smile. 

"I'm glad you are okay."

Yosuke exhaled, relaxing into the hold, barely concerned by the closeness and clinginess he was showing.

Souji smiled a bit more. 

"You-", he looked quickly at the stairs, "Yosuke, you broke my stairs.", he chuckled lowly. 

"I- what?!", the brunette jumped a bit, glancing up were Souji's gaze was, revealing what seemed to be a crack on the last step. 

Souji's muffled giggle turned into another breathless laugh, one that he could not contain, and Yosuke would have liked it, despite his growing embarrassment and dread for having once again destroyed Dojima's house (the man was going to end him) if only he couldn't hear the relief in the blessed sound coming from his friend, coating a lingering nervousness that needed to explode. 

Yosuke stilled in the embrace, careful in letting Souji ease his worry, but lightly squeezed one of his shoulders, looking at him seriously. 

"Dude, don't ever do that again.". When Souji's answer was a questioning glance, he added breathlessly, "You could have been hurt."

Souji's look darkened by a degree. 

"You could have been hurt too.", he countered.

"I don't care!", Yosuke snapped, "I'm not…", he breathed in, and looked away, clenching his hands, "I'm not important.", _'compared to you, I'm not.'_ , he meant.

He felt the hands on his back urging him to sit down, and, when he complied, was met with dead serious silver rings pouring into his eyes, making him a bit lightheaded.

"You are.", Souji declared, "You are important to me, Yosuke.", he added with a softer tone, matching a fond look in his eyes.

The words washed over him like hot water. Yosuke slowly felt his bones turn into jelly, his body melting and getting warm under that gaze. Oh, they were close, probably way too close for comfort, he thought, closer than before, even, since he was sitting down between Souji's legs by now, and that was definitely beyond a friendly touch. They were almost hugging, but it was desperate, like a mean to assure each other that they were there and fine. It was stupid, really, he was overreacting for sure, but Yosuke could feel Souji's breath ghosting on his lips, and everything was so silent around them, and his body still sore from the fall, and that was definitely driving him crazy, because he knew he should have pulled away long ago but he couldn't bring himself to move. And he knew that he should not have been that impacted by their fall, they had done worse, way worse without even caring once, but people had died for less than that he kept reminded himself, and with his luck, with his curse- he had endangered Souji. What if he had hit his neck while trying to shield him, or broken a bone? Soon enough, all the horrible outcomes of this mundane accident went rushing in his mind, a his resolve gave in, he let his head fall back on the collarbone, this time, forehead meeting Souji's chest, as he let out shaky breathes vainly trying to compose himself after falling apart so miserably for something so absurd. Souji couldn't even understand. 

He felt the hands working on his back again, and soothing words were heard, but what he noted the most was the added weight of another face resting on top of his head. Yosuke managed not tearing up, at least, his body was far too drained for that. 

"Promise me you won't do that again.", he knew he was being selfish, he knew he was being inconsiderate, he knew he was being a needy jerk, but he couldn't help himself, he needed to have the insurance that his partner would be safe, even if he knew it was just a lie. 

When no answer came, Yosuke lifted his head, only to meet a pained smile from his friend, but determined eyes, that he knew all too well. Somehow, for both of them this talk seemed to had nothing to do with those stairs anymore. 

Of course Souji wouldn't promise anything like that. He bit down a self-deprecating laugh, which must have been shown on his face, because fingers made their way toward Yosuke's face to guide it at eyes level, and Souji rested his forehead against his, and god he was ashamed of how much he was acting like a girl.

"We are fine Yosuke. It's okay. No one is hurt.", and as if he could read his mind, he added with a smile, "And I won't let any of us get hurt in the future."

Yosuke wanted to tell him that it was impossible, despite of how almighty their leader could be, he couldn't always be there or act on the situation the right way, but he felt drawn to the look of pure trust emitting from his partner, and decided to keep his mouth shut, in favor of trying to appease his worry for good. Being that close to Souji was weird, really when he thought about it, but there was something oddly comforting about sensing him everywhere, from the touch, to the warmth radiating from his body, the hands on his back, and the hair tingling his face. It felt good, better than he could have ever imagined, it was safe and tangible, it was real, but made him feel giddy and overwhelmed like a dream. Finally he sighed, pulling back just a bit, to avoid drowning into the feeling. 

"So… I, huh, I broke you stairs?", he joked lightly, to ease to atmosphere, which apparently worked, since Souji chuckled, a fond, amused chuckle, with no hint of nervousness this time, Yosuke loved it. 

"It's fine, it was pretty old, after all. I'm just glad that it broke now so we can repair it without anyone else hurting themselves."

It was true that, at least now they would be obligated to make them safer. Was that…

"Dude. Don't tell me you didn't want me to go get that futon because you were scared I would fall cause' of _it_."

When Souji's expression turned bashful, and his eyes drifted to his side accompanied by a little smile, Yosuke couldn't help but snort.

"You got me.", he replied, "I should have been more careful, and told you about it, it's my fault that it happened, I shouldn't have distracted you.", he justified before following with a serious look, "I'm sorry."

"Don't sweat it partner, let's just say that makes us even for when I distracted you in the kitchen.", he winked in return with a grin. "Pretty sure that would have happened anyways…", he added with a mumble while looking up. 

Those stairs were, indeed, dangerous, especially with a child around, he was glad that Nanako wasn't the one that triggered the crack, and judging by Souji's preoccupied look, the sentiment was shared. 

Maybe some good did come after this. 

Speaking of good, Yosuke's attention snapped back to their position and, now that he wasn't high on adrenaline from the shock or emotions anymore he was slowly coming to terms with the fact that, indeed, this was definitely _not_ how you were supposed hold a friend, given that they were ways to hold a friend in the first place because, why would someone do that in their right mind? _'Ha ha, oh god'_ , he thought, how long had this been going on already? Souji hadn't move at all since the fall, he was most likely feeling sore too, and Yosuke was holding him onto the ground and had forced him to hug him and wow that was embarrassing - but he hadn't say anything so maybe he didn't mind that much? No, no, no Souji was just a good guy, that was all, _'Don't think like that, Yosuke.'_. He dreadfully felt his face quickly heating up only to match the mortified look on his face. 

The worst thing there was being well aware that he should move while he, in fact, very much did not want to. They had been sitting like this for so long, surely few more seconds would be of no harm to his partner, right? But he was being egoistic again, Souji obviously needed to move, so why was his own body so reluctant to go away? That made no sense at all, he shouldn't feel like that, he shouldn't want to be this close to someone else, let alone a friend, a _guy_ on top of that. No, he just needed to calm down again, he was just on edge, like always today, that just made him cling to whatever comfort he could grasp, leading to letting all on Souji, which was, by all accounts, a horrible thing to do, especially after promising himself to not be a burden to the said friend. 

Hesitantly then, he started to move, Souji let him go, of course he would, but his hands traced Yosuke's arms as he shyly stood up, which the brunette put on his partner assuring himself that he wouldn't fall again midway, but secretly and selfishly hoped was a way to make the contact linger for few more instants. 

Yosuke eyes drifted to his left, taking in the rest of the living room for no particular purpose save to avoid looking at his friend, that was the moment Souji chose to move. It drew back his attention, and Yosuke noticed a faint frown on the other's face, one that he could perfectly pinpoint between thousands thanks to the TV world: the one that meant he was hurt but didn't want to impose it on the team. Yosuke sucked in a sharp breath, and froze on the spot.

"You _are_ hurt.", he stated, voice a bit more accusatory than he would have liked. 

Souji looked at him, surprised at first, and then with a resigned yet touched smile. 

"It's nothing, I just think that I scratched my back."

Yosuke eyed him dubiously.

"Lemme see.", he made his way around his friend to face his back, only to be greeted by a wrinkled dark shirt that showed no evidence of injuries. 

"It's okay, Yosuke, I swear…", he said softly. Souji was about to turn, to distance his back from Yosuke, but a grip on his wrist glued him to the ground. 

None of them moved, implying that Yosuke was not about to make any concession. Souji sighed, seemingly defeated, and pulled up his shirt up until it reached his shoulder blades, allowing a full view on his back. It had been damaged, but not as badly as Yosuke had feared: there were reddening scraps painting all the way from the low back to the scapulas, but nothing worrying, these would be probably be healed by the next day. The thing that was concerning Yosuke the most was the bigger cut following his spine, a bit bloody, although probably superficial if treated efficiently, overall, it was nothing nearly as distressing as what they had seen on the other side. Yes, he would be fine, they had treated far worse way more urgently before, but that didn't mean that he should leave it at it was either.

"Do you have a first aid kit somewhere?", he asked distracted, ghosting the length of the injury with his fingers.

Souji hummed thoughtfully, "Yes, in the bathroom, is it bad?"

"No, not that much, better safe than sorry, though. I'll help you with it, go…", he vaguely gestured towards the living room, "Sit or something.", he started to walk away, adding mindfully, "And get that shirt off, gotta see if you're hurt somewhere else too!"

"Yes mom.", Souji snorted, obviously rolling his eyes. It uplifted Yosuke's mood, and in the blink of an eye, he was back, with the kit in his hands, already looking at the content and satisfied to find everything he was looking for. He was no nurse for sure, but he could take care a few scraps diligently, after all, he had years of practice with how his bike usually treated him.

Thankfully, Souji was patiently waiting for him with his shirt off (a weird thought to get glad of but whatever), he looked a bit tense, and avoided eye contact by busying himself with inspecting his shirt, probably looking for bloodstains. 

"Head on that couch, partner! I've got the goods.", he promptly declared, showing off the bottle of antiseptic.

Souji laughed a bit, attention on Yosuke again. "Do I really have to lie down? I could just sit you know."

"C'mon, the lighting would be terrible, don't want to miss a spot, y'know. Besides, I'm the one in charge, and I don't take any complains.", he crossed his arms to give himself a semblance of authority.

Souji rolled his eyes again, fainting annoyance, but was betrayed by his amused smile. He lied down on the couch with a swift _"plop"_ , stomach first, and rested his head on the armrest, half-facing Yosuke who was sitting down beside him on the floor. Luckily, he was tall enough to reach his partner's back without any difficulty.

"Tell me if something hurts, okay?", he said uncertain, it shouldn't, but it was better to be safe than sorry, maybe some injuries were not visible yet ; hopefully Souji being able to walk around almost normally was a proof good enough that he didn't suffer from any internal bruise. 

His friend nodded, and let his body relax once Yosuke put his hands on his back, letting out a little sigh that the brunette rather not interpret right now. 

He started by neatly inspecting his back and arms, looking for everything he could have missed the first time he had looked. He vaguely wondered if someone like Rise would have made a better job than him at that, since her abilities on the other side revolved around scanning things, but quickly brushed that thought away. As nothing odd struck him, he decided to take care of the big cut first, making sure twice that it was perfectly clean before bandaging it with few compresses, it was a bit more experimental than he would have liked, but the job was done properly enough to content him. 

"Hey Yosuke.", Souji breathed, and Yosuke wondered when he had closed his eyes.

"Hmm?", he looked properly at his partner, stopping his motion.

"Should I call you nurse?", he asked with a teasing self-satisfied smirk.

Yosuke pinched his arm. 

"Hell no! Don't distract me, you jerk!", he snapped without any real heat in his words.

Souji flinched a bit away, chuckling.

"Hey, don't pinch me! I thought you were supposed to take care of me not injure me.", he falsely complained.

This time it was Yosuke who rolled his eyes.

"Then don't be an ass.", before Souji could reply something that made him look like even more a victim (and Yosuke knew that he would have done that because his partner was a _dickhead_ ), he continued, ignoring the exaggerated offended look on the other's face.

"It's funny.", he focused on the other scraps, "It's kinda rare that we have to heal something like that. Usually we just… cast some dia spell and it's over."

Under him, Souji looked like he was contemplating what Yosuke had just said. "It's true…", he rubbed his cheek against the sofa, closing his eyes with a delighted sigh, "But I like this better.", he concluded. 

'Yeah', Yosuke almost breathed, but ultimately, the feeling of his blood rushing towards his face dissuaded him, he favored letting his eyes fall on the ground, comforted in the fact that Souji could not see his expression with his eyes closed. Without noticing, his finger started to trace the scraps on his back, too lightly to hurt, but strong enough to be felt. That seemed to please the other boy, who shifted a bit, encouraging the movements. 

Yosuke realized too late what he was doing, and almost retracted his hand, but that would mean forcefully tear away the look of bliss pictured on his partner face, and Yosuke would have lied if he denied being a bit curious. Cautiously, he flattened his hand on the middle of Souji's back, letting his finger press the skin along the way, a motion that earned another sigh. 

Yosuke blinked. He slowly repeated the motion, only for his friend to melt a bit more each time into the touch. Somehow, somewhere, behind the curiosity and the denial, that made him a bit smug. He was the only one that could pretend doing a gesture that intimate so casually to their leader, the Souji Seta, the fantasy of half of Inaba. And Yosuke, his partner, was managing to make him relax like he had never seen him before, to the point of almost dozing off judging by the depth of his breathing and-

Yosuke let his hand slide to his shoulder, and squeezed it gently. "Partner, don't fall asleep on me.", he laughed.

"But it feels great.", he mumbled back, nuzzling his face in his arms.

"C'mon, it's still early, we have things to do.", he continued in a gentle tone, far too gentle for that, he noted, Teddie would probably kill a man for so much consideration coming from Yosuke when he was sleepy, he remembered that he still had to scold him a bit for the battery case, but Yosuke was in a good mood right now, so maybe he would let it slide this time. He was a bit noisy, and sometimes really difficult to be around, but he liked him, he was a good bear, most of the time. His attention snapped back to Souji, who was curiously eyeing him with one visible eye, probably wondering why a sudden fondness appeared on his friend's face. 

Yosuke slowly retracted his hand, and offered Souji a warm smile, that he hoped was enough to convey his motivation to do something entertaining. It worked, apparently, since his partner lifted himself up with an hitched breath. He put on his shirt, and stretched before standing up and giving Yosuke a hand he gladly took, to follow him on their feet. 

"Okay so, what's on the menu?", Souji asked.

Yosuke took about two seconds to pretend he was thinking, then shrugged, "I dunno man, more video-games?", he grinned.

His partner laughed a bit, and gave him a soft smile, "Figured you'd say that."

For no particular reason, absolutely not because he was seeking a bit more contact Yosuke punched him lightly on the shoulder. 

Just like that, they ended up upstairs, after having carefully avoided the crack in the step (Souji had insisted on holding Yosuke's hand while they climbed the stairs much to his mortification and embarrassment), sitting on Souji's couch, probably just a bit closer than usual, playing whatever game Souji had in his room. 

After a while, when they had spent a long enough time glued together starting new game over new game they lost the track of time, their concentration began to fade away, leaving them both too tired to focus on what they were doing.

"You know,", Souji started casually after hearing Yosuke yawn for the third time in a row next to him, "We forgot the futon.”, Yosuke slowly blinked, and almost laughed, but Souji continued, “Also I kinda forgot actually but we found holes in the spare last time.", he stopped a bit, looking at the screen with a false focused expression, "Guess we can’t really use it, huh?”

Yosuke swallowed as discreetly as he could, a bit more awoken now. “I guess so.”

Souji kept his gaze frozen on the screen. “We could share mine."

He could have suggested that one of them slept on the sofa, but, hey, it was a very hard couch, right? His butt was already feeling sore enough just by sitting on it a few hours, so sleeping on it? He would pass that one if he could. And, somehow, even if he had the distant feeling that his partner was being idly neutral while saying that, which leaded him to believe he was lying when he said his spare was busted, he found himself just replying, "Oh, unlucky me.", with the same falsely bored tone, not even beating an eye.

When they paused the game to look at each other, none of them managed to hold in their laughter. 

At this point he had no idea why any of them was acting that way, but for some reason, he didn't mind it that much, well, he even enjoyed it. Being that close to someone, and knowing that this person wanted him close in return was a new and powerful feeling. It gave him the impression of floating on cloud nine, constantly above the floor, so light that his perception of reality slowly faded in a state that might just as well be a dream. He felt content, thrilled and bold, all sensations that he rarely ever experimented usually, which he rather put on exhaustion. Souji had this kind of effect on him, he was amazing. Just by being there, he was able to wash away all the worry, all the tension and the self-hatred, and he had no idea, no idea how he could make him feel. But that was right, after all, Yosuke had no idea either, he never knew, before, he would have never suspected having such a heat inside of him, such passion and devotion, and joy, he discovered it all thanks to his partner, who was standing here, like always, and still reaching out to him, happy to be there too, and that left Yosuke more overwhelmed than anything else.

The fondness must have shown on his face, well, he wasn't really trying to hide it anymore, because Souji had a bashful smile on his face, and was blushing a bit, he looked a bit confused, but happy nonetheless, and Yosuke decided it was, in fact, that look that he liked the best on his partner. He was probably too tired to try analyze it, or even to interpret his own thoughts, and maybe a bit scared too, so he figured he would let the following years of confusion and denial wash over him later, and just to enjoy this feeling while it lasted. 

Shortly after that, they turned off the lights. Souji was the first to be ready for bed, already lying down, holding the cover with one hand to invite Yosuke to take his place. 

When he hopped into the futon, settling by Souji's side and happily humming at the warmth meeting his body, he found himself being glad, and when Souji tentatively scooted a bit closer, his tiredness let him believe that, for once, he didn't have to care and Yosuke ever so gently put a loosed arm around his friend's waist. Souji sighed in contentment, and put his head to rest on his collarbone, and Yosuke knew that the next morning would be really awkward, but smiled nonetheless.

  
  


As he drifted to sleep he realized that maybe he wasn't that cursed after all, or that Souji might just be the cure.

**Author's Note:**

> As surprising as it is for me I maybe like writing Yu's POV a bit more, Yosuke's thoughts are too fast for me.
> 
> That was so self indulgent omg, sorry if it was too much-  
> I still hope you liked it, thanks for reading! I have two more projects I'm working on rn, but I'm having a bit more trouble with them. They'll be shorter though!
> 
> In the end, I have no idea if he was really cursed or just clumsy.


End file.
